Light in the Dark
by m0nsterinthemirr0r
Summary: Fills in the blanks of Sam and Mercedes' relationship between Prom Queen and New York. Spoilers up to New York, obviously.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So basically this fic starts with filling in the blanks of what happened between Prom Queen and the end of New York, and later it will follow what happens to Sam and Mercedes during the summer! I'm not sure how many chapters it will be yet, but there will be at least 5, I think. **

**Let me know if you like it and what I could improve on, pretty please!**

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><p>"I had a lot of fun tonight," Sam said, smiling down at Mercedes as they stood just outside the school's main doors. Most of the students had left already, so apart from a couple of people milling around their cars, they were alone. "Despite what happened with Kurt, and with Finn and Jesse, I think it turned out to be a pretty good prom."<p>

"Well, drama's unavoidable in our Glee club. At least there weren't any broken bones," Mercedes joked. Sam chuckled.

"Honestly though, I'm really glad I went with you," Sam said. "And Rachel," he added quickly.

"Me too. For a white boy, you've got some moves," Mercedes nudged him playfully with her elbow, grinning widely. "I don't know why I never really hung out with you before. You're pretty cool."

"You know," Sam faltered, swallowed nervously, and started over. "You know, I was actually wondering if-"

A silver Honda pulled into a parking spot a little ways away and honked twice, cutting Sam off.

"That's my dad," Mercedes said as she leaned in for a quick hug. "You sure you don't want a ride?"

Sam shook his head. "Nah, it's fine."

"Alright. Thanks for an awesome time," She started towards the car. "See you in Glee!"

"Bye, Mercedes," Sam called after her. He sighed, and turned to walk back to the motel.

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><p>The next few weeks were hectic, to say the least. New Directions was preparing for Nationals, opting to write original songs again. Kurt and Finn were planning a funeral for Sue's sister and needed help from the rest of the Glee club. And on top of everything else, Sam had picked up some more shifts delivering pizza. Between all that, babysitting his brother and sister, and homework, he was staying up until ridiculous hours of the morning every day.<p>

He didn't get another chance to talk to Mercedes until they were sitting in Dayton International Airport, waiting for their flight to New York.

Mercedes didn't notice when Sam sat down in the seat beside her. She looked exhausted, which was understandable, since their flight was at 4 in the morning.

"Hey."

She looked up from where she had been staring fixatedly at a stain on the floor. Blinking sleepily, she returned the greeting. In a sudden rush of emotions, Sam had the urge to wrap his arms around her until she fell asleep on his shoulder. He shook his head slightly.

"How've you been?" he asked. "We haven't talked since prom."

"Oh, good. Nervous about Nationals. I really wanna win this. How are you? You look tired," she observed, surveying the dark bags under his eyes.

"I think we're all tired. It's 4 am," he joked lamely.

"Not just now. You always look tired." Mercedes threw him a look full of concern. "Sam, how are you really doing? Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine for Nationals, Mercedes. I'll sleep on the plane."

She shook her head. "Not what I meant. How are your parents? Still looking for work?"

_Oh._ So it was going to be one of _those_ conversations.

But something was different. There wasn't that unbearable look of pity in Mercedes eyes like Sam usually saw when he told people about his situation. Suddenly Sam realized just how much he needed to talk to someone.

He glanced around, but most of the members of New Directions were spread out over the chairs in the waiting area, half-asleep with their iPods in. No one was listening to their conversation, or even looking their way. He turned back to face Mercedes.

"Yeah, but no one's hiring. My dad even tried looking for work at the mall, just until he could find something better, but they said he was 'way overqualified,' because he went to law school and everything. We're all getting really worried, but we don't want to let the kids know how bad it is. They don't need to know." Sam rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. How did everything fall apart so quickly? It still hadn't completely sunk in that he was homeless. God. _Homeless._ What a depressing term for his living situation.

He felt a warm arm wrap itself around his shoulders and he realized a couple tears had escaped. He wiped them away quickly, praying that Mercedes hadn't seen them.

"Good morning, passengers." A cool female voice rang through the speakers of the airport. "Flight number 3746 to New York City is now boarding at Gate B12. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Thank you."

Mr. Schue stood up and turned to face the Glee kids. "That's us, guys! Come on, New York is waiting for us!" Mentioning New York seemed to do the trick. Most of the kids perked up instantly. Rachel actually shot to her feet so quickly that she lost her balance and had to sit back down.

Sam and Mercedes gathered up their bags and joined the rest of the club to get in line. Everyone was quiet until their boarding passes were checked.

As soon as they were past security, the excitement level skyrocketed, because, well, they were officially on a plane to New York City.

"Pretty exciting, huh? I've never been to New York! Have you?" Mercedes asked Sam, bouncing slightly on her toes.

"No, me neither," he replied, amused by her sudden energy. He had a sudden inspiration. "You know what we should do while we're there?"

"What?" she asked, tilting her head in interest.

"Mercedes, over here beside Kurt!" Mr. Schue called. "And Sam, you're beside Puck."

"I call window seat!" Puck yelled, jumping over a row of seats to snag his preferred spot.

"See you later," Mercedes said as she dragged her carry-on back a few rows to where Kurt was sitting, already immersed in a copy of SkyMall.

Sam sighed and plunked himself down beside Puck.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, can I try something out on you guys?" Finn asked as the guys lounged in their hotel room. "I think one of our songs should be a duet with me and Rachel." Sam looked up from his rhyming dictionary to exchange a glance with Puck. Could Finn get any more obvious?

"I just wanna win," Mike piped up from where he sat on the floor, folding paper airplanes. "We all know that you two doing a duet is our best shot at that."

Finn smiled. "Awesome."

"Okay, can we just talk about the Jewish elephant in the room?" Puck asked. "Ask her out, dude!"

"W-who, Rachel?" Finn stammered. "But she's totally into Jessie right now."

"You're in New York, the city of love."

"I thought that was Paris," Sam interjected, his mouth full of chips.

"Anything's possible here," Puck continued, "You need to ask her out _tonight._ Take her on one of those big, awful dates you see in those unwatchable romantic comedies that you grow a vagina if you watch all the way through."

"This is your shot, dude," Sam added, "If I was in love with a girl and wasn't homeless, I'd totally go for it." Sam tried to keep his voice steady as his thoughts unexpectedly skipped to Mercedes. He stuffed another chip in his mouth, raising the dictionary again to cover his face, which suddenly felt too warm.

Should he take this chance to ask Mercedes out? New York would make for a pretty epic first date if she said yes.

His heart fell a bit when he heard Finn planning where to take Rachel for dinner and what kind of flowers to buy. He couldn't afford to take Mercedes out, especially in New York City, where everything seemed to cost double what it did in Ohio. He bit his lip, mulling over his options. Deciding that New York was way more interesting than Lima, and without even doing anything that would cost money, Sam stood up, tossing the book onto the bed. He looked up to see Mike and Puck staring at him.

"Where are you going?" Mike asked, curiously.

"Oh, um," Sam looked around the room quickly for an alibi. He would rather save himself from the humiliation of them knowing the truth, in case he got rejected. His eyes landed on the ice bucket. "Going to get some ice!"

They looked even more puzzled.

He ignored them, grabbing the bucket and one of the room keys off the desk, and bolted out the door.

He left the bucket in the alcove where the ice machine was, and walked down the hall, counting the doors until he came to the girls' and Kurt's room. He raised his fist to knock on the door, then froze. There was no guarantee that Mercedes would answer the door, and he didn't want to have to ask one of the other girls to get her for him; they were quick to assume things, he'd learned that the hard way.

He could just chicken out, go back to his room and chill with Puck, Mike and Artie. He knew he would regret it later, though.

Hoping that Mercedes would be the one to answer, he knocked once.

The door opened almost immediately. Tina stood in the doorway, feathers in her hair and a surprised look on her face. Sam cursed internally.

"Sam?" she said, "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, is Mercedes in?" he asked quickly. Tina looked curious, but didn't question him.

"Yeah, one sec." She closed the door halfway. There was a short, hushed conversation behind it, and then Mercedes walked out, closing the door almost completely behind her. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked a little out of breath.

"Hey, Sam! What's up?"

"Hi! Well, I was just wondering, since Finn and Rachel snuck out, and well, I don't know if you're doing anything right now…if you are that's fine I'll just go back to my room. But I thought if you weren't doing anything else, that maybe we could, I dunno-"

"Spill it, white boy," Sam looked up to see a small smirk spreading across Mercedes' face. However, her eyes were soft. "You trying to ask me out?"

Sam took a steadying breath and smiled back nervously. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Who knows? It's New York City! We can go anywhere."

"Hang on a minute," she said, turning and dashing back into the room. She was back before Sam could even wonder what she was doing, pulling her jacket on.

Grinning, Mercedes took his hand. "Let's go then!" she exclaimed, heading towards the stairs.

They stopped just outside the front doors of the hotel, momentarily soaking up the feel of the city. Sam turned to face Mercedes.

"Where to?" he asked.

Hands still intertwined, she pulled him to the right, towards Central Park.

"Can you believe we're actually here?" she wondered aloud, looking around at the bright lights, unlike anything you would see in Lima, Ohio. "NYC…"

"NYC, what is it about you?" Sam started to sing. "You're big, you're loud, you're tough. NYC, I go years without you. Then I can't get enough." Mercedes giggled girlishly as Sam spun her around and continued, "Enough of cab drivers answering back in language far from pure. Enough of Frankfurters answering back, Brother, you know you're…"

"In NYC," Mercedes picked up, "too busy, too crazy."

" Too hot, too cold, too late, I'm sold…"

"…again on NYC!" they finished together, grinning broadly at each other.

"Stacy's been obsessed with 'Annie' lately. I think she watched it about 6 times last week, and when she isn't watching it, she's singing all the songs," Sam explained.

"That's adorable!"

"And annoying," Sam replied, half-joking. Mercedes laughed again, and Sam admired the way her eyes lit up, brighter than the city around them.

They continued to walk together in companionable silence for a few minutes until Mercedes spoke again.

"It's gonna be hard going back to lame old Lima after this."

"I don't know, I think I might start to get sick of all the lights and glamour and traffic after a while." Sam shrugged, looking up at the towering skyscrapers all around them. "Plus I keep worrying about everything back home." He glanced back down at Mercedes, and saw she was watching at him with a look in her eyes that he'd never seen before.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, breaking the eye contact and looking around the street. "Are you hungry? You can't visit New York without trying a New York hot dog!"

Sam shuffled his feet a little. "Uh, I'm not hungry. You get one," he muttered. He hated having to admit he couldn't even afford the two dollars it cost for hot dog.

"My treat," she told him. He was about to argue, but something in her expression stopped him. "Come on." She grabbed his hand once again and something that felt suspiciously similar to an electric shock ran up his arm. His argument died in his throat as he followed Mercedes to the nearest hot dog stand.

"Two, please," she said to the vendor, handing him a $5 bill. She passed both hot dogs to Sam while she put her wallet back into her purse.

"They look strange," he said, inspecting one of the dogs closely. "Are you sure they're edible?" He looked to Mercedes, and instead caught the vendor glaring furiously at him. _Oops._

"Um, let's go," he suggested as soon as Mercedes had flung her bag over her shoulder. He gave her back one of the hot dogs and started off down the street.

Mercedes glanced back at the scowling vendor and laughed. "Nice going, white boy," she teased.

"Are you always gonna call me that?" Sam grumbled.

"What? White boy? Does it bug you?"

Sam considered it for a minute. "No, not really," he decided.

"Then yep!"

"Just out of curiosity, what would your answer have been if I'd said that it bugged me?" Sam asked.

"Still yep."

"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Where to next?" Mercedes asked. "…White boy," she added with a chuckle.

"To Isengard!" Sam yelped, in a fake British accent. Mercedes raised an eyebrow at him, confused.

"Oh, come on, are you telling me you've never seen The Lord of the Rings?"

"I've seen bits of it…" Mercedes replied.

"Well, that just won't do! You have to watch them as soon as we get back from New York! They're brilliant, pure genius-"

"Did you say 'them'?" Mercedes asked. "Like, more than one?"

Sam looked shocked. He stuffed the rest of his hot dog in his mouth, chewed and swallowed dangerously fast, and launched into a full synopsis and review on all three movies, waving his hands around in front of him for added effect.

By the time Sam had started in on The Return of the King, they'd reached Central Park. This seemed to pull Sam out of his reverie.

"Oh my gosh, Mercedes, I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you to death talking about this," Sam apologized.

"Nah, it was interesting! I like listening to you talk. It's-" she stopped, blushing a bit. She changed the subject before Sam had a chance to question the abrupt stop of the sentence. "What time is it? We should get back to the hotel before Mr. Schue finds out we're gone."

Sam glanced at his watch. "Oh damn! I was supposed to help Finn out with something! I'll walk you back to the hotel and then I gotta run."

"You don't have to do that. I can walk by myself."  
>"No, I'd rather you didn't. Plus, y'know, I'm heading over that way anyway."<br>"Alright."

Sam offered his arm to Mercedes, and she took it.

"I can't believe I wasted the whole night talking about Lord of the Rings," Sam muttered, half to himself. "So, tell me about you, Miss Mercedes Jones."

"Like what?"

"Anything. Everything."

She blushed again and looked at the ground, but didn't say anything. Her eyelashes cast shadows across her cheeks, and she looked so shy and beautiful. Sam couldn't help it; he wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked, and pulled her closer. _Why didn't I see her before?_ Sam couldn't help but think. She'd been there the whole time Quinn had been cheating on him and Santana had been using him, but he hadn't seen her, really seen her, until now. He made a mental note to thank Rachel Berry for setting up that prom date.

"Evans!" they heard Puck yell when they were a block away from the hotel. They sprang apart, standing awkwardly next to each other as Puck ran towards them. "Where've you been? We thought you got eaten by the ice machine or some shit."

"Sorry, I just decided to get some fresh air."

"Whatever, dude. Just hurry up or Finn'll be pissed."

"Yeah, be right there."

Puck walked back towards the hotel, where, Sam now saw, Artie and Mike were waiting with an accordion.

"I'd better go, before Puck drags me away by my hair. But I had a lot of fun tonight." Sam said to Mercedes.

"Me too; I'm glad you manned up and asked me," Mercedes smirked.

"Evans!" Puck called from across the street.

"Shoot, sorry. I'll talk to you later!" Sam said before running across the road, weaving between the yellow taxicabs that were stuck in traffic, and joining the rest of the boys.

"Let's go serenade some love birds!" Puck announced, as they headed towards Sardi's to meet up with Finn and Rachel.

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><p><strong>AN: ****I'm still working on Chapter 3 and I've got a ton of homework this weekend, so it'll be a few days before I update again.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Goodness Gracious, I took a long time to update! I'm so sorry, it was the end of school and I was studying for exams...kind of. Anyway, here's the 3rd chapter, finally. I hope it was worth the wait!**

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><p>"You guys ready?" Mr. Schue asked as he walked in. He did a quick head count and frowned. "Where's Mercedes? We're on in 10!"<p>

The group looked around and shrugged collectively.

"Someone needs to go find her, and hurry," said Mr. Schue. Rachel started to stand, smoothing down her dress.

"No, I'll go find her," Sam volunteered, gesturing for Rachel to sit back down. She looked at him suspiciously. "You and Finn are on before the rest of us. You can't be late."

She considered it for a second, then nodded. Sam turned to leave, though a few members of the club – namely Tina and Kurt still looked skeptical of his reasoning.

He walked into the almost-deserted lobby, circling the t-shirt stand and heading down the hallway to the washrooms. Maybe he should've brought a girl with him to check the bathroom. _Too late for that,_ he thought, and, after checking that the hall was empty, he pushed open the door slightly, ignoring the sign which clearly showed a girl's figure and sticking his head right next to the opening.

"Mercedes?" he called. There was no answer. He tried again, to no avail. Abandoning that attempt before he got caught lurking outside the women's restroom, he went back to the lobby. He stood there awkwardly, trying to concentrate on what other places to check, but mostly he just thought about what could be wrong with Mercedes. Was she sick? Was she hurt? Why wasn't she with the rest of the group? His thoughts got progressively darker, until he was shaking off the concept of her being kidnapped in New York City, and forced himself to think of where to look next.

He had just decided to head backstage to see if she'd returned on her own, when he caught a glimpse of a figure in a black dress outside the front doors and rushed towards it. Flinging open the double doors, he found Mercedes leaning against the brick building, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

"Mercedes?" he asked quietly. Her eyes flew open and she turned to look at him.

"Hi," she replied, a little shakily.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Sam's eyebrows drew together in worry. "Are you sick?"

She paused, seeming to consider something. "I'm nervous," she admitted, sounding ashamed and hanging her head a bit.

"So? That's normal. Lots of people get nervous before performing."

"Not me! I'm a diva. I don't _get_ stage fright."

"Well, we've never made it as far as Nationals before. It's a lot of pressure." Sam took one of her hands in both of his and looked her in the eye. "But you know what? You're gonna do great. You're amazing, Mercedes. I know that for a fact."

Her eyes lit up, and she stepped forward until she was so close that Sam could feel the heat radiating from her body. Mercedes rose up on her toes and placed a hand behind his head to bring his lips down to hers. Sam slipped his right hand from Mercedes' and rested it against her cheek, pulling her in closer. The kiss was short and simple – just a bit more than a peck, really – but it left them both breathless.

They leaned their foreheads together and were silent for a minute, smiling at each other and letting their heartbeats slow.

Sam had kissed other girls before, and of course it had felt good, but never had a kiss made him feel like _this._ He felt dizzy and dazed despite the briefness of the kiss. He also felt happy, happier than he had felt in weeks. It was as if all his troubles, - all his worries of his parents and their finances, of school and his job, of his sister and brother - all of that dropped away for a few moments and all that mattered was the softness of Mercedes lips on his, the warmth of her hand on the back of his neck, and the smoothness of her cheek beneath his palm.

"Can you not tell anyone about my…stage fright?" Mercedes asked eventually, interrupting his musings.

"Of course."

"Thanks."

They moved apart, keeping their fingers intertwined, and walked backstage. They only released each other's hands when they were just around the corner from where New Directions was gathered. They seemed to have an unspoken agreement to not make their relationship obvious.

"There you guys are!" Kurt exclaimed as they walked into view. "Rachel and Finn are already out there. Get over here!" Sam and Mercedes shot each other shy smiles, and moved to their positions, waiting for their cues.

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><p>"Light, light, light it up, light it up tonight!" The group assembled in the center of the stage and belted out the last part of the song in unison, dropping their heads forward on the last note.<p>

The crowd roared as the lights dimmed, and Sam looked around. Mike was pulling Tina and Brittany into a group hug, Santana and Brittany were jumping up and down together, clapping their hands excitedly, and Finn was doing some sort of double fist-pump at the back of the group.

Sam spotted Mercedes on the other side of the stage, who was looking ecstatic and sporting a grin so huge it looked as though it might be painful. He ran towards her, weaving between the rest of the Glee kids. So exhilarated by the rush of a successful performance, Sam pulled Mercedes into a tight hug, right in the middle of the stage, not even bothering to keep it platonic.

"Told ya you'd be great," he whispered in her ear. The cheers from the audience seemed to fall silent, and the rest of the New Directions seemed to melt away, until it was only the two of them on the stage, wrapped up in each other's arms; warm, safe, together and perfect.

And then Quinn clapped a little too loudly, a little too close to Sam's ear, pulling him back to reality. Sam released Mercedes just in time to hastily take a bow with the rest of the group.

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><p>"That was amazing!" Rachel practically yelled as they exited the stage, heading back to the lobby to wait for the Top 10 list to be posted. They let themselves bask in the glory of their performance for a few more minutes.<p>

"So…when do you think they'll post the list?" Tina asked, visibly anxious. The mood changed immediately as everyone suddenly felt uncertain and apprehensive.

Finn was the first to answer. "Probably not for a while…"

An awkward and tense silence fell over the group. After a minute of this, Finn spoke again, pulling Rachel off to the side and asking if he could talk to her. After that, the rest of them started to break off in groups or pairs. Sam was about to ask Mercedes if she wanted to go walk around when Brittany stepped between them.

"I promised Lord Tubbington I'd buy him a t-shirt! Help me pick one out?" she asked, obviously oblivious to Sam and his intentions.

"Sure!" Mercedes nodded enthusiastically, and the two of them, Lauren and Tina left for the booth.

Sam stood awkwardly for a moment, subconsciously biting his fingernails, and wondering what to do next.

"You shouldn't do that, you know," a cool voice said from behind him. He turned, and saw Kurt standing there, watching him with a curious expression on his face. "It'll make your nails really horrible and ragged."

Sam lowered his hands from his mouth guiltily. "Oh."

"You wanna go for a walk?" Kurt asked, already starting to walk towards the buildings doors. Sam shrugged and followed him. They were quiet until they got outside.

"I haven't talked to you in awhile," Kurt stated. "How are things going?"

It always surprised Sam how truly nice and concerned Kurt was. He very rarely let his act of indifference fade away in front of the rest of the Glee club.

"Um, alright, I guess," he replied, "Pretty much the same as before."

Kurt nodded. "Hey, remember if you need anything, just let me know, okay? Don't be scared or ashamed to ask."

Sam's throat tightened a little, and his eyes stung. "Thanks, man," he managed to mumble, his voice thick with emotion.

Kurt patted his arm a little awkwardly, and they kept walking.

"What's up with you and Mercedes?" he asked next.

Sam's eyes widened, and he replied a little too quickly. "What do you mean?"

Kurt studied Sam's face intensely, his eyebrows drawn together. "Never mind," he finally said, and Sam was relieved that he had let it go. He didn't even know what was going on with Mercedes. It was definitely something, but…what? Were they dating? Was she his girlfriend? He didn't think he could afford a girlfriend right now, or have time for one. Quinn had always insisted that he take her out for dinner and a movie every Saturday night, and that was the day that Sam got the most tips delivering pizza. Not to mention he didn't have any money to take Mercedes out. He started to panic just a little, until Kurt interrupted his thoughts.

"We should probably head back. The list should be up soon."

Sam murmured an agreement, and they started back to the building.

The first thing they noticed when they returned was the huge crowd gathered around a little board propped up on a stand.

"Oh my god," Kurt muttered. "Oh my god!" he repeated, a little louder, and ran off, somehow maneuvering easily through the throngs of people. Sam followed him, albeit less gracefully, and with more 'excuse me's.

He caught up with Kurt just in time to hear him say, "…Gather 'round! It's a moment two years in the making!" His voice rose significantly at the end, and he clapped his hands together.

"Okay, okay, what should we do?" Rachel asked.

"Let's go look at it…together," Mr. Schue suggested, "C'mon."

The group started towards the middle of the crowd, silent and nervous and trying to stay calm, as the other show choirs around them cheered and yelled.

Sam felt Mercedes beside him, and when her arm brushed against his, he could feel it shaking. Without a second thought, he grabbed her hand and held fast, brushing his thumbs over her knuckles in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

"Breathe," he murmured, but he wasn't sure if she heard him. He wasn't sure if he was talking more to her or to himself, either.

The New Directions stood together, waiting for the group in front of them to move out of the way.

"I'm too nervous to look," Rachel said, her voice trembling a little.

"I'll go," Mr. Schue volunteered, and stepped forward, eyes scanning the list.

"What'd we place?" Finn called out immediately.

Mr. Schue didn't answer, and that's when Sam knew it was over. They weren't on that list. His shoulders slumped forward and Mercedes looked up at him. Sam vaguely heard Finn asking again, but his focus was on Mercedes. Her face fell as she saw his expression. He squeezed her hand tightly and shrugged.

"We didn't." The confirmation of what Sam already knew rang out clearly through the chaos around them, and now the entire club looked devastated. Mercedes let out a small sound, like a puppy being kicked, one that Sam never would have thought could come from her before today. It made his stomach twist into knots and he tightened the grip on her hand, until he was worried he might hurt her and relented a little. The group started to disperse and Sam let go of her hand altogether.

No one said a word as they left the building and hailed a few cabs back to their hotel.

No one said a word as they waited for the elevator to bring them up to their floor.

No one said a word until they were gathered in the girls' room. That's when Santana snapped.

She started towards Rachel as soon she entered the room, shrieking like a banshee.

"¿Qué demonios fue eso?" she yelled, as Sam, Mike and Quinn rushed forward to prevent her from hitting Rachel. "¡Esta es tu culpa!"

They dragged her back as Rachel wrapped her arms around herself, looking devastated, terrified, and on the verge of tears.

"¡Escucha! ¡Soy de Lima Heights Adjacent y yo tengo orgullo!" Santana continued in Spanish, though no one but Mr. Schue could really understand what she was saying. Mercedes turned quickly to Brittany and whispered something in her ear. She nodded.

¿Sabes lo que pasa en Lima Heights Adjacent? ¡_Cosas malas_!" The last two words tore from Santana's throat, screamed viciously enough they sounded painful. She finally stopped to take a breath, and Brittany ran forward, motioning for her to be released. After a moment of hesitation, Sam did so, and Quinn and Mike followed.

"I just wanted to win," Santana whimpered as she collapsed into Brittany's arms.

The two girls sank to floor, Brittany petting Santana's hair and making comforting little shushing noises.

Puck caught the attention of the rest of the room, and motioned for them to leave.

They complied, leaving Brittany alone to calm Santana down.

No one was in the mood to celebrate, even if it was their last night in New York, opting to hang out in the boys' hotel room instead. Kurt found the movie-on-demand option on the TV, and insisted that they watch Rent. Puck called out for pizza and the group spread out across the two beds and the floor.

Sam took a seat beside Mercedes on one of the beds.

"Hey," he said.

Mercedes grinned. "Hey yourself."

Kurt leapt onto the bed, taking the spot on Mercedes' other side, as the cast on the screen started singing _Seasons of Love_.

Sam quickly lost track of the movie, instead watching Mercedes as she sang along quietly, laughing when Kurt started acting out the scenes dramatically.

By the time _Will I?_ began, however, Mercedes had stopped singing and was yawning widely, her eyes sliding shut. She leaned against the headboard, and started falling to her right – towards Sam – until she was leaning heavily on his shoulder. Sam resisted the urge to kiss the top of her head and turned to the TV screen, but he was completely lost; Mercedes' head on his shoulder was extremely distracting.

She shifted, turning her body so she could grab onto the front of Sam's shirt. He startled, causing the mattress to move a little. Kurt glanced their way, giving Sam a meaningful look, and Sam looked back at him, bewildered. Kurt smirked and flashed him a wink before turning back to the movie.

Mercedes stayed there until Sam's arm fell asleep, but he still didn't wake her.

Neither of them moved until Mr. Schuester entered the room, flipping on the light.

Mercedes stirred, sitting up a little and shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness by flinging an arm over her face.

"Hey guys, sorry to break up the party," Mr. Schue said to the room in general, "but it's getting late. Girls and Kurt, can you go back to your own room, please? We have a flight to catch tomorrow."

Quinn, Tina, Lauren, Kurt and Mercedes all stood, but Rachel remained sitting on the floor, looking panicked.

"I can't go in there!" Rachel almost shrieked, her voice shooting up an octave. "Santana is going to kill me in my sleep!"

Kurt got up off the bed, and pulled Mercedes over to where Rachel still sat. They both crouched down, trying to calm her. Only when Mercedes and Kurt promised to sleep on either side of her and keep one eye open did Rachel finally agree to go back to her room, though she was still shaking slightly.

With the girls gone, Sam got ready for bed and climbed in next to Puck. He fell asleep quickly, for once not thinking about his family and troubles. Tonight, his thoughts dwelled on Mercedes and how her lips had felt against his.


End file.
